Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

Our strawberries are in full swing and we have a pretty decent patch of them== probably about 50 plants. But we’ve been eating them so quickly (and happily) that I was starting to wonder if I’d ever have enough to make jam. So this morning I made a pre-emptive strike (meaning I got there before any kids did) and picked as many as I could. Then I picked some rhubarb and by combining the two items, I was able to get 9 jars of jam. Here’s the recipe in case you are interested.Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

In large kettle combine all ingredients except sugar. Bring mixture to a full boil. Add sugar and keep stirring till sugar is fully dissolved. Return to boil and boil for one minute. Keep stirring. Remove from the burner and skim off the foam with a spoon.

Spoon the hot jam into hot pint or half-pint canning jars. I like to pour the jam into a glass 4-cup glass measuring cup first, then pour into jars, as this makes jam easier to pour into jars. Leave 1/4 inch of space at the top. Wipe jar rims clean and screw lids on firmly. Place the jars in boiling-water canner on high. When water begins to boil, set timer and boil for 5 minutes. Remove the jars from canner and cool on racks. Try not to disturb jam til it is cool. It may take several hours to set.

My freezer is holding the rhubarb in readiness for our trip to pick strawberries. A power outage kind of sidetrack the jam making for a little bit. But after this weekend I”ll fire up our canner and make some too!

My Dad loves Rhubarb, but I’ve never tried planting it. The jam looks so good. I’m afraid we’ll have to try this recipe next year when we have more strawberries. We’ve been making TONS of smoothies with ours!
Blessings,
Michelle

I am completely tempted. Here’s what I need to know: Is canning as easy as this post makes it sound?
I’ve never done it before. I’ve been tempted, but scared away by the seeming complexity of it all (botulism from tomatoes!?)

As long as you are dealing with acidic foods and handling it properly, canning is safe. The key is to use clean technique, bring things to a brisk boil before putting into jars, and then process per expert guidelines. Here is a good source of info